The team out on the road for The Variety Show shot video footage along the way to share the goings on of our second Works in Progress tour. Stay tuned here or on our Facebook page as the last few videos are posted. And, thanks to everyone who attended!

Big thanks to Christy Baugh (from our marketing department) – whose birthday is tomorrow – for making these happen despite the bustle and motion of the RV; thanks also to Thomas Costello (aka The Human Eyes) for much of the music for these!

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The Variety Show – the second installment of Counter Culture Coffee's annual Works in Progress series – will explore botanical coffee varieties with the owners of Finca El Puente, Moisés Herrera and Marysabel Caballero, and celebrate the championship of Erin McCarthy at the 2013 World Brewers Cup!

The Variety Show team will travel from city to city stopping at each Counter Culture Training Center along the way over the course of two weeks in October – starting this weekend in Durham and ending in New York at our new flagship Training Center.

Along the way, we'll be selling raffle tickets to benefit World Coffee Research, and each stop will include drawings for prizes like Kalita brewers, Baratza grinders, Bonavita kettles, and custom Counter Culture wares – a winner for the Grand Prize drawing from all entries gets a personal coffee brewing experience in your home – or coffee shop – with 2013 World Brewers Cup Champion Erin McCarthy [some restrictions apply*].

The Variety Show – the second installment of Counter Culture Coffee's annual Works in Progress series – will explore botanical coffee varieties with the owners of Finca El Puente, Moisés Herrera and Marysabel Caballero, and celebrate the championship of Erin McCarthy at the 2013 World Brewers Cup!

The Variety Show team will travel from city to city stopping at each Counter Culture Training Center along the way over the course of two weeks in October – starting this weekend in Durham and ending in New York at our new flagship Training Center.

Along the way, we'll be selling raffle tickets to benefit World Coffee Research, and each stop will include drawings for prizes like Kalita brewers, Baratza grinders, Bonavita kettles, and custom Counter Culture wares – a winner for the Grand Prize drawing from all entries gets a personal coffee brewing experience in your home – or coffee shop – with 2013 World Brewers Cup Champion Erin McCarthy [some restrictions apply*].

"After cupping some initial samples in our ... lab this past week," Hannah says. "I'm feeling more hopeful than ever about their coffee this year."

After starting strong in June, the first harvest was just finishing as Hannah arrived. Along with plenty of photos, read her trip report on Flickr to learn about her visit to the co-op dry mill and yields for this harvest – and her visti with a potential new cooperative partner, Union Pro Agro.

At the end of March, coffee buyers Kim Elena Ionescu and Tim Hill traveled together – which they almost never get to do; with so much Coffee Department travel, they usually travel separately – to Ethiopia for a compost workshop funded by our $1-per-pound allocation from our 2012 Holiday Blend and attended by 30 farmers from Haru, Idido, and Biloya.

"I was really excited about this trip!" acknowledged Kim Elena. "I was also really nervous, however, because I had committed Counter Culture to hosting a workshop in a place I had never been, in a language I didn't speak, on a subject outside my area of expertise."

Read Kim Elena's full trip report on Flickr offering annotated photos offer an overview of the two-day workshop, as well as a few glimpses into the activities at these cooperatives this time of year.

Coffee Buyer's Agent Hannah Popish was in Mexico and Guatemala at the end of March and filed a trip report from her visit with three separate cooperatives – one in Mexico from which we do not currently purchase coffee and two in Guatemala that are active partners.

Hannah reported on efforts to address "leaf rust," the implementation of Seeds projects, and some of the goals that the cooperatives are working toward to improve the coffee and quality of life of their members.

Coffee Buyer & Quality Manager Tim Hill went to El Salvador in January with Head Roaster Jeff McArthur to visit Aida Batlle. Last week, Tim filed a compelling trip report on flickr that includes lots of information about both the challenges facing Central American coffee producers and the exciting experiments being done with Aida that may eventually surface in our Fall 2013 Work in Progress. Check out Tim's annotated photo set on flickr.

Our Coffee Department visits a lot of growing regions each year, and they keep up with cooperatives and individual farmers throughout the year between visits through a variety of digital communications – from email to video conferencing. It's always great to hear updates along the way to feel connected to the producers of the coffees we love.

Coffee Buyer's Agent Hannah Popish got an email this week from Jorge Recinos. Jorge and his twin brother Javier run their family's Finca Nueva Armenia in Huehuetenango, Guatemala – from which we've been buying coffee for 10 years and are always happy to welcome back! The photos Jorge sent can be seen in the flickr set included here. And, here's Hannah's translated summary:

They started picking on December 14 and feel confident the quality this year will be even higher. We will likely get three containers from them, including Grotto or Gemelos microlots and 2-3 bags of Maragojipe. Leaf rust has definitely hit Guatemala, but, with the help of a lot of hard workers, they feel confident they have it controlled at FNA with organic pesticides. And, they continue to hope for more rain! And, Happy New Year from Finca Nueva Armenia!